Much Difference??

NWLondoner

I am thinking about getting rid of my CB Urban Legend 300 (2005) and getting the CB Levante 2007 or the 2005 if I can find one.


My budget is quite tight sadly and I am after a "road bike" as I need one light as possible for my money but I do not like drop down bars.

Would it make much difference?

Any experience of the Levante??

I know my choice may fill you pro's with dread but being unfit and surrounded by bloody hills in ALL directions i need something that is very light as possible.

The hardest part of my journey is at the start (so my legs turn to jelly straight away plus because of the lay of the land the final part of any journey is also as bad)

So i find it kills all my motivation and tend not to use the damn bike.

DavidTQ

If your legs are turning to jelly on the hills how are you handling them? Dont know how much cycling you do, but I found when I first came back to cycling that I was taught all wrong on how to set up a bike when I was a kid. I found I naturally stoof up a lot to attack hills, and this killed mylegs pretty quickly, since Ive learnt better how to setup my bike I sit in the saddle for most hills and my legs last far better. I live in hilly area as well.

A true road bike is certainly easier for hills, when you used a drop bar bike how did you hold the bars? I was used to bmx's and MTB's and then a hybrid before I got a road bike and always thought drop bars would be horrible but I never realised that you should be riding the hoods, or holding the straight parts ofthe bars rather than using the drops most of the time. I actually find the flexibility of so many hand positions on the drop bars great, it cured a lot of wrist related problems I had using a flat bar for longer journeys even though I had bar ends it still wasnt as flexible as a drop bar bike.

Shaky

Having gone from a hybrid to 2 road bikes ( ), i'd definitely second the advantages of drops over a flat bar. The option of several hand positions is worth having.

If your budget is tight, i'd recommend a trip to a Decathlon store (if you've got one near). I visited the store at Lakeside yesterday, and they have a sale on all of their road bikes (not sure if that's in all their stores, but it would be strange if it wasn't). They have the BTwin Sport 2 (one of which I have for commuting) down from £279 to £200. It comes with a Campag Xenon set up and is, as far as I am concerned, excellent value for money - especially at £200!

NWLondoner

It's not just the hills that turn my legs to jelly :shock:

I did ride a racer/tourer with drop bars when I as a youngster junior/high school and used to ride with my thumbs over the flat part and the rest of my fingers over the drop down brakes :shock: I used to ride it like a BMX both on and off road.

I still remember how cr*p the brakes were when using the flat bar brake.

However many,many years have passed now i as i want to eventually ride it around central London i don't feel i would be in total control with drop bars, even using the top for everyday riding.

Therefore a racer with normal flat bards would be great.

johnnyhotdog

have you considered profile bars etc? the on-one website also has a great array of different styles which offer a good variety of positions.